About this item
Emerald Labyrinth is a scientist and adventurer's chronicle of years exploring the rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa. The richly varied habitats of the Democratic Republic of the Congo offer a wealth of animal, plant, chemical, and medical discoveries. But the country also has a deeply troubled colonial past and a complicated political present. Author Eli Greenbaum is a leading expert in sub-Saharan herpetology - snakes, lizards, and frogs - who brings a sense of wonder to the question of how science works in the twenty-first century. Along the way he comes face to face with spitting cobras, silverback mountain gorillas, wild elephants, and the teenaged armies of AK-47-toting fighters engaged in the continent's longest-running war.As a bellwether of the climate and biodiversity crises now facing the planet, the Congo holds the key to our planet's future.
About the Author
I am an associate professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) , with a research focus on evolutionary biology and herpetology of Central Africa. Every year since 2007, I have conducted fieldwork in Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world, where I have searched for new species of amphibians and reptiles. With my all-Congolese research team and UTEP students, I have collected and analyzed thousands of samples for DNA research, and discovered scores of new species to science, several of which have been named in one of my 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. My research has bolstered efforts by the Congolese government and American wildlife organizations to establish new reserves and national parks in an effort to protect more of Congo's unique and threatened biodiversity. My research has been published in top scientific journals, including PLoS ONE, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biology Letters, BMC Evolutionary Biology, and Journal of Biogeography. My discoveries have been featured in NBC News, National Geographic Daily News, Africa Geographic Magazine, and The Huffington Post. A 2016 documentary about my work, Emerald Abyss: 9 Years of Research in the Congo, is available on YouTube.
